It Was a Dark and Stormy Night
by AliLamba
Summary: 12 1xR Themes Challenge: 4 // Power outages can be scary, scary things. Unless they lead to pure fluff. Shameful, shameful fluff.


IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT…

by AliLamba

* * *

"Heero, this is AC 200, not the stone ages. We have things like electricity so we don't have to own candles." 

Heero started to straighten, but hit his head on the mantel instead.

"AGH," he grunted, followed by a string of curses under his breath.

"Heero, are you all right?" her concerned voice filtered through his pain, and he paused shortly in his frantic head clutching.

"I'm fine, Relena." Through the darkness, he could only guess where she was, so he hoped he spoke in her general direction. He felt the brick of the fireplace again. There must be a circuit breaker somewhere, if he could only follow the wall… Through the tiny, night-darkened window to his left there was a flash of lightning, chased almost immediately by a grand crash of thunder.

"Heero?" he heard her voice again, this time with the slightest tremor in her voice, "Heero?" It came now with more urgency, and he heard her feet start to fumble around the unforeseeable floor.

"Stay where you are, Relena. I'm going to go find the circuit breaker, and I'll be right back." He was so very unaccustomed to wanting to reassure people.

"No, Heero, wait!" she searched her mind for a political reason not to be left alone. Relena couldn't very well tell him she was afraid of the dark, but she didn't want to be left waiting for him to return…in her wine cellar…all alone. Why he had asked her to come down here, she was completely clueless to, but when he had produced two champagne flutes from his back pocket, she had thought him terribly romantic. She began to throw her arms about, trying to reach him…

"AGH," Heero groaned again, as Relena's sweeping appendage came crashing into his already bruised head. Her hands immediately shot back to her body, and they both cringed.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Heero," her hands reached out and tentatively touched his hair, smoothing his fingers away from a swelling lump on his cranium. Leaning over, she brushed her lips over his bruise.

Heero stilled. Without sight, her smell completely enveloped him. It was hard to place exactly what she smelled like…something…terribly sweet, like a fruit mixed with cream. The slightly tart after-whiff left him intoxicated. Without thinking, he wrapped one arm around her waist and hoisted her to his side, pressing his lips to hers.

He felt her body relax against him, one hand pressing flat against his chest, her other in a loose fist by her heart. Her breath was warm in contrast to her skin, which was already covered in goose bumps from the cold, damp cellar.

He had meant this to be what they called romantic.

Champagne, a fire, a proposal.

But just as he showed her the glasses, and he had seen the way her face lit up with happy surprise, the power inexplicitly went out at the Peacecraft manor.

The thought could have been the cause of his throaty groan, but he was betting it was prompted by the way she was pressing her chest against him. She was coming dangerously close to feeling a small square box in the pocket of his jeans. Fighting his own wishes, he let her down to the ground.

"Relena," he whispered, his voice unknowingly thick. She shivered against his side. "I need you to be able to understand what this is," he reached into his pocket and pulled out the box, adept fingers picking out the piece of jewelry. The solitaire diamond winked on what light there was from the moon in the darkness, and he heard her jaw slacken.

* * *

It wasn't until after tears, many kisses, and an unforgettable session of love-making, that Relena had pointed out the two candles on _top _of the mantle, and Heero had lit them with the lighter he had on him. Heero held Relena to his body, them both lying on the make-shift bed of their clothes. 

Their skin danced in the fire light, and she told him "yes."

* * *

AN: Aaaaah, I'm ashamed by the fluffiness. So ashamed. Well, sorry this was so short. I have two more to make up, and then a third after tonight! I'm working on a knight fic! It's not going so hot! Won't be posted until the contest starts on BI, but I thought I would let those that have me "author alerted" (why you do that, I have no idea) know that I've been working! Sohard. 

Thanks for reading! Please review! - Ali


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